Seve Ballesteros, in full Severiano Ballesteros (born April 9, 1957, Pedreña, Spain—died May 7, 2011, Pedreña) Spanish golfer who was one of the sport’s most prominent figures in the 1970s and ’80s. He was known for his flamboyant and imaginative style of play and accumulated more than 85 wins in international golf tournaments, including 50 European Tour victories and 5 major championships.

Seve Ballesteros, 1996.

Dave Caulkin/AP

Ballesteros, one of four brothers who became professional golfers, was a precocious talent. He started playing at age 7 and went pro at age 16, in 1974. His fame was secured when he tied with Jack Nicklaus for second place at the 1976 British Open (Open Championship) at Royal Birkdale, behind Johnny Miller. Also that year he received the Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) European Tour’s Order of Merit (as the season’s top moneymaker), which he would eventually be awarded six times. He won his first Masters Tournament in 1980 and followed with a second win in 1983. Two years later he was on the European team that broke American dominance of the prestigious Ryder Cup, marking Europe’s first victory in that event. His other victories included three British Open wins (1979, 1984, and 1988) and five World Match Play Championships (1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, and 1991).

Ballesteros was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1999, and the following year he was named European Player of the Century. Back problems as well as personal issues kept him largely out of play over the next several years, and in 2007 he made his retirement official. In October 2008 he began receiving treatment for a cancerous brain tumour.

Learn More in these related articles:

...win in 1983 ended an era of U.S. domination, during which American golfers won 12 times in 14 years. For the next 11 years there was only one American winner, with the Claret Jug going to Spain’s Seve Ballesteros, Australia’s Greg Norman, and England’s Nick Faldo, among others.

a cross-country game in which a player strikes a small ball with various clubs from a series of starting points (teeing grounds) into a series of holes on a course. The player who holes his ball in the fewest strokes wins. The origins of the game are difficult to ascertain, although evidence now...

External Links

Britannica Web sites

(1957-2011). Spanish golfer Severiano Ballesteros was one of the sport’s most prominent figures in the 1970s and ’80s. He was known for his flamboyant and imaginative style of play and by the late 1990s had accumulated more than 70 wins in international tournaments.